Breeding Season Begins
Even on Islay last week, with wintery weather, the breeding season had begun with pairs of Ravens nest-building. Upon returning home this week my regular Herons were well into breeding with several nests showing the signs and sounds of having young in them. This weeks gallery shows photos I took from this Heronry a couple […]
Goose Feast
Another week on Islay and the wildest week we have ever seen with hail, snow, rain, gales and even a powerful thunderstorm that disabled telephone contact for part of the island. Dramatic conditions but good news from a camera point of view with many photos taken. The Raven is one of Britain’s wariest birds to […]
Islay Whiteout
A week on Islay has coincided with the snowdrops at Bridgend being in perfect condition. As usual amongst them were some fine examples of Scarlet Elf Cup fungi. Three Bullfinches were feeding on the buds of a shrub in an adjacent garden. The first wildlife photo of the week was of a Mink, on a […]
Shrike Wins
During the last five weeks I have spent time in the Ribble valley trying to attract a Great Grey Shrike to food. A friend with a farm near Clitheroe has a cat that regularly catches mice and voles. These I placed on a stump for the Shrike to eat. Unfortunately the Shrike had to find […]
Jack Snipe Week
With high pressure all week and a low temperature of -5°C it made perfect conditions to go looking for Jack Snipe. The aim is to locate a Jack Snipe before it flies off and this I achieved early in the week as the Snipe roosted in an iron water ditch. For five consecutive days I […]
Spring On Hold
This week the early flowering snowdrops and gorse have been covered by several inches of snow topped off with frost. These stunning arctic conditions always remind me of the pristine beauty of Spitsbergen with the only missing ingredient being Polar Bears so this weeks gallery is a short selection of photos I took when I […]
Iced Over
Whether you like them or not you have to feel sorry for the Canada Geese when the canals and lakes freeze over as they have done this week. On our local canal more than one hundred were stood around on the ice with little or no food available. They must be able to survive long […]
Goldfinch Record
Laid up with a chest infection all week is normally bad news but on the 14th, by watching the garden all day, I was able to record an exceptional days feeding.It had been frosty overnight with an inch of snow on the ground at dawn followed by sleet for most of the day. These are […]
Jack Snipe Arrive
With the arrival of the freezing weather at the year end I was finally able to search for one of the most illusive of all winter visitors the Jack Snipe. It took five mornings before I made contact with one and in typical Jack Snipe fashion it flew off when I was only three feet […]
Annual Newsletter
Best wishes and a Happy New Year to you all for 2015 What a twelve months 2014 has just been. Almost eight thousand photographs later I am able to look back on a year that will surely never be surpassed. In the early part of the year I was filming Bramblings as they drank from […]